This rat-race, we call life, seems to have an ever-increasing stranglehold on my time. I’ve been trying to find ways to effectively juggle my work, family and writing without negatively impacting on my health or responsibilities. Historically, writing is the first thing to go, since my muse isn’t likely to fire or yell at me, but I am always on the lookout for tools that enable me to get more done in less time.
I found Flock not too long ago when I was browsing Treehugger. It is a handy browser built on Mozilla Firefox technology that allows you to easily access “social” features. It’s like seeing Firefox wearing a dazzling frock. Many of Firefox’s helpful extensions, like firebug, ietab, the UK dictionary and the html validator, also work in this browser.
You’ll notice that I’ve created this post from Flock’s blog feature. The post window opens separately from the browser, so you can type up your post during the day. Perfect for those two-minute tea gulp breaks. You can also easily choose to post between two blogs without ever having to access the sites.
The other features that I find particularly helpful are the RSS feed column and web clipboard. Drag and drop any RSS feed you encounter on a website into the feeds column. You’ll be able to quickly scan the headlines of your favourite blogs and then only access the posts that are relevant to you. If you don’t have time to read an article, that’s easily solved. Simply select the article and drag it into the web clipboard until you have time to read it.
Voila! Time saved without losing out on any valuable lessons and insights.
Crammed full of other fun and funky features, this browser very quickly became my default and favourite. The only minor problem I have is the handling of the CSS on certain sites like Stepcase Lifehack. My home browser renders some fonts incorrectly so that they are barely legible. I’m sure in time I’ll figure out how to fix that.
I have no problem recommending this great new browser to others, and can’t wait to see what else it has planned. The Eco Edition includes many preloaded links and feeds of environmental interest.
Tags: software
Roon
Leave a Reply